Senator Tomas Cabili Marker in Iligan

One of the now-ignored markers of Iligan City is the Senator Tomas Cabili Marker located meters away from Iligan Sea Port where most jeepneys pass when going to the city center. For the information of the general public, Tomas L. Cabili served 9 years as Senator in the Philippines, from 1946 to 1955, engraving his name in history as one of the First Senators of the First Congress and First Congressional Representative of undivided Lanao in Mindanao who refused to sign the 1935 Constitution, as a delegate of the grounds that the rights of the Muslims was not protected which was formally ratified on February 8, 1935.

Senator Tomas Cabili was born on March 7, 1903 in Iligan, which was then part of the province of Lanao del Norte until it became a City. He was the son of Guillermo Cabili and Epifania H. Lluisima. Cabili was married to Felicitas N. Pepito of Cebu and they had five children.

Also known as Sultang Demasang kay-ko-Ranao, Senator Tomas Cabili studied at Iligan Primary School in 1911-1915 and Iligan Elementary School from 1915-1918. He enrolled in four different schools from 1919-1923 to finish his secondary education. Tomas Cabili finished his college at the University of the Philippines in Cebu with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1925. He then went to the University of the Visayas (then Visayan Institute) to study law from 1925 to 1927. He transferred to the Philippine College of Law and got his degree in 1929. He practiced his law in Iligan after passing the bar examinations.

Senator Tomas Cabili Statue

Writings - Senator Tomas Cabili Marker

Tomas Cabili was appointed peace of the municipal district of Lanao as well as of Dansalan (now Marawi) in 1934. In 1935, he was elected assemblyman for his district in the First National Assembly, serving on the committees on agriculture, codes, franchises, provincial and municipal government, national language, public instruction, Mindanao and special provinces, appropriations, civil service, and public lands.

In 1938, Tomas Cabili was reelected to the Second National Assembly. He was chairman of the Committee on Privileges and member of the committees on agriculture, appropriations, forest, Minadanao and Special provinces, and national companies.

Two years after his service in Senate, Tomas Cabili died on March 17, 1957 at 54 years old.

Senator Tomas Cabili Marker

Because of the Senator Tomas Cabili’s undying love to Iligan and the Muslims, the Tomas Cabili Foundation together with the Local Government Units of Iligan decided to set-up the Senator Tomas L. Cabili Marker in a strategic location which can be easily seen by folks and visitors of Iligan.